Ripple’s Fed Master Account Bid Gains Momentum After Trump Order
President Donald Trump has signed an govt order pushing US monetary regulators and requesting motion from the Federal Reserve to evaluate whether or not fintech and crypto-linked corporations ought to get broader entry to core cost infrastructure. For Ripple, which has been looking for a Fed grasp account tied to its RLUSD stablecoin technique, the order strikes a long-running trade combat nearer to the middle of Washington’s monetary coverage agenda.
The May 19 order, titled “Integrating Financial Technology Innovation into Regulatory Frameworks,” frames the difficulty as one among competitors and modernization. “The Federal Government should replace rules to permit integration of digital property and revolutionary expertise into conventional monetary companies and cost methods. The Federal Government should additionally take away overly burdensome and fragmented rules and supervisory practices that type boundaries to entry and primarily profit incumbent monetary companies corporations,” the order says.
The most necessary part for crypto corporations is the half on Federal Reserve companies. The order asks the Fed to guage the authorized, regulatory and coverage framework for entry to Reserve Bank cost accounts and cost companies by uninsured depository establishments and non-bank monetary firms, together with these engaged in digital property. The Fed is requested to submit findings and suggestions inside 120 days, together with whether or not current regulation permits expanded entry and whether or not regional Reserve Banks can act independently when granting or denying functions.
What This Means For Ripple
For Ripple, the timing is notable. In July 2025, CEO Brad Garlinghouse stated the corporate had applied for a US national bank charter, whereas additionally looking for a Fed grasp account that may let it entry Federal Reserve cost infrastructure and maintain RLUSD reserves straight with the central financial institution. Ripple’s constitution utility was confirmed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, whereas the grasp account bid was positioned as a part of the corporate’s broader stablecoin and funds technique.
Ripple’s utility shouldn’t be occurring in isolation. Kraken Financial, the change’s Wyoming-chartered banking arm, introduced in March that it had received a Federal Reserve master account, turning into the primary digital asset financial institution within the US to achieve direct entry to the Fed’s cost infrastructure. Kraken stated the approval adopted greater than 5 years of regulatory engagement and would enable direct connectivity to Fedwire with out counting on middleman banks.
That approval has develop into the template and warning signal for the remainder of the sector. Kraken’s account is limited-purpose and initially granted for one 12 months, giving it entry to Fedwire and restricted in a single day balances, however not curiosity on reserves, emergency Fed lending, FedNow or ACH. Other corporations looking for related entry embrace Ripple, Anchorage Digital and Wise.
Notably, the difficulty has already been examined in court docket. Custodia Bank, one other Wyoming crypto-focused establishment, utilized for a grasp account in October 2020, sued the Fed in 2022 over delays, and noticed its utility denied in January 2023. In 2025 and 2026, appeals court decisions reinforced the view that Reserve Banks retain discretion to reject grasp account requests, a authorized backdrop Trump’s order now explicitly asks the Fed to look at.
Ripple has additionally proven curiosity in a extra restricted route. In November, Ripple chief authorized officer Stu Alderoty stated the Fed’s “skinny” account idea was enticing regardless of restrictions, as a result of it might nonetheless enhance RLUSD reserve redeemability with out granting the total advantages of a conventional grasp account.
The Fed had already opened that door earlier than Trump’s order. In December, it requested public enter on a special-purpose “cost account” for eligible establishments centered on funds innovation. The prototype can be distinct from a grasp account, wouldn’t pay curiosity, wouldn’t present Fed credit score, and can be topic to steadiness caps.
Ripple’s stablecoin push provides the grasp account query added weight. The firm stated in December that the OCC had conditionally accredited Ripple National Trust Bank, a federally supervised belief financial institution that may handle RLUSD reserves below each NYDFS and OCC oversight.
Overall, Trump’s order doesn’t grant Ripple a grasp account. It does, nonetheless, pressure the coverage query into a proper timeline: whether or not corporations constructing crypto cost and stablecoin infrastructure ought to stay depending on financial institution intermediaries, or achieve direct, risk-limited entry to the sovereign rails beneath greenback settlement.
At press time, XRP traded at $1.3647.